AS SEEN IN THE MARCH/APRIL 2007 ISSUE

Introducing what many have already described as the most exquisite pocket yacht to date – the 2008 Smith 45CDF.

Would you like to own a house in the Bahamas? How about an island condo? We all would, but at today’s real estate prices, the idea that there is more-bang-for-the-buck in a quality boat is quickly catching on.

Now, of course, not just any boat could substitute for an island home. However, a serious vessel that can negotiate the potentially treacherous Gulf Stream with comfort and safety before slipping through the reef and up onto one of the many breathtaking Bahamas’ beaches, now that would do!

Perhaps more than a few of you already own a large sportfish yacht. Sure, ‘big’ is awesome, but let’s be realistic. Big boats are a REALLY big responsibility and an even BIGGER expense. Besides, the plusher the floating bachelor pad, the less likely it was designed to take on the full force of Mother Nature’s fury. Add the skyrocketing cost of yacht insurance, crew expenses, dwindling dockage and the result is easy to see why an increasing number of large yacht owners are actually downsizing to something more affordable and more manageable.

Small boaters aren’t exempt either. You can’t argue that it is frustrating to have a well-deserved island trip cancelled due to foul weather. While today’s state-of-the-art fiberglass center-consoles can withstand quite a bit, they, too, have their limitations.

Make no mistake about it. The Smith 45CDF is not a convertible sportfish yacht or a lightweight outboard-powered center-console. She was designed, and is painstakingly manufactured by experienced craftsmen as a serious island hopper – an island hopper that provides all of the luxurious amenities you’d expect to find in a much larger sportfish yacht, with the eye-watering speed, versatility and fish-catching ability as any leading open-fisherman. And she has an 11-year track record that proves her design works!

Don’t let her flawless curves and head turning good looks deceive you, this boat has a bite! Twin Yanmar diesels turning twenty-three inch wheels on 2.250" shafts propel her through big seas in a fashion most boat owners only dream about.

Don Smith, the brainchild behind the Smith 45, operated a repair facility specializing in large multi-engine outboard boats for over ten years before going ‘diesel.’ Smith knows the limitations of outboard engines and concludes that while you can effectively push a big boat with three or four outboards, the engines were never designed to achieve maximum life expectancy while doing so, especially the lower units.

The POWER-VENT™ advantage…

Hefty twenty-three inch diameter propellers are tucked away high up into the 45’s hull in POWER-VENT™ pocket drives. This high-tech configuration accounts for her shallow draft. She draws a mere twenty-nine inches and floats with a level keel as opposed to bow high like with most high-performance hulls. This affords the Smith 45CDF considerably better odds that any grounding planed or otherwise, will be some forty feet ahead of her protected running gear. The advanced warning allows the helmsman to get her reversed before incident.

The Smith 45CDF features a proven 22-degree deep-vee design. While she is largely laminated of Kevlar, the space-age material is not used for weight reduction. In fact, the 45CDF could be considered heavy relative to her style. You would be hard-pressed to find a truly experienced open-ocean captain who wouldn’t agree that “heavy,” provides a stable and comfortable ride in rough seas. Thus, in the case of the 23,000 pound Smith 45, the use of Kevlar is added insurance against structural failure, and is incorporated into her hull to protect against abrasion with the vessel’s distinct ability to operate in shallow water and to be beached.

Her bottom running surface is a solid un-cored laminate. Heavy, yes! Expensive, yes! More resistant to puncture, tears or delaminating, yes! During the hull lay up, the manufacturing team interlaces each layer from the port hull material with the next layer from the starboard side. The resulting shuffle results in a thickness of over 1.25 inches. With five stringers and forty-two bulkheads below deck, her running surface crushes oncoming waves and has even proved to smash reef into rubble and survive!

Luxury beyond compare…

The Smith 45CDF is not all about strength. That is just her first consideration. If you enjoy the feel of sliding into the driver’s seat of a 12-cylinder luxurious import, then you’ll love the Smith 45CDF which provides a similar feel of power from the instant you step aboard.

Don Smith comments her value is in her versatility and functionality. The art is to produce an attractive vessel loaded with equipment that is easy to use and care for - understated elegance of functional design and comfort. Her lavish appointments include fine upholstery, Tempur-Pedic mattress, and complete multi-media entertainment system with flat-screen television, full galley with built-in microwave, refrigerator, significant pantry space and even a built-in blender. Countertops are virtually unbreakable polycarbonate which simulates granite – the same robust material used to construct all of the doors.

The rich deck adds style, yet is blood proof, red wine proof and even high-heel proof! The material is a form of UV stabilized polyvinylchloride. This high-quality PVC provides an excellent nonskid surface, especially when wet, and is a ringer for natural teak in both color and texture with none of the time-consuming maintenance. Smith rigs the 45CDF with a built-in pressure washer to keep up with the foe teak floor along with the balance of the boat while wasting very little of the 130 gallon freshwater supply. There is even a control valve so freshwater condensate from the 12,000 BTU A/C system may be channeled into the freshwater tank rather than overboard. He said the main reason is to keep up with the standard Mister’s Inc. evaporative cooling system. Along with the crisp cabin, there are fourteen cool mist jets dispersed around the vessel’s 9’ x 24’ cockpit!

Guaranteed to exceed your expectations…

While her layout is technically considered a center-consol, the Smith 45CDF is in many ways yacht-like in fit and finish and certainly in her list of standard amenities both inside and out. Every Smith 45CDF is completely painted in urethane to eliminate sun chalking. Much of the vessel’s hardware is custom made to allow strong mountings with no visible fasteners for that clean, rich look. The Smith 45CDF even comes standard with a Hookah dive compressor for up to four divers. There are also two in-deck boxes just forward of the removable transom door that double as extra storage when not full of fish.

The Smith 45CDF is a proven fish-catcher! Along with her deck level marlin door, there is a 42 gallon baitwell mounted in the center of the transom. The baitwell lid features an o-ring seal and is designed to be full to the top while under way so the precious cargo does not slosh around and get damaged. There are two leaning posts in this fancy rig with additional storage incorporated into both. The aft post quickly converts to a fighting chair with flip-up foot rest and stainless gimbal. Fold down steps assist entry and exiting the vessel and are positioned so the T-top is right there for a hand hold. Again, the well-thought design and functionality is amazing.

As far as the command center is concerned, there is a fold down platform at the helm to increase the captain’s view by 8 ½”. A tilt steering wheel and a half-inch thick wind screen which raises out of the console by the push of a button are two items Smith considers “standard equipment.” As a matter of fact, to remain within a twelve month delivery time frame while maintaining the vessel’s extraordinary value, the Smith 45CDF is marketed one way, loaded! There are essentially only three options. A custom half-tower with second control station, a 35 pound/per/hour flake icemaker and if you can convince Don Smith you are a capable helmsman of a 45 ft’ boat that cruises at 60 knots in kicked up seas, he will double the power to 1,650 horsepower!

Sea Trial a Smith 45CDF and see if you have what it takes to handle her ferocity!

Smith Powerboats

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